Burgess, Lewis Get Different Handling

College football report - Miami

September 20, 1995|By Rachel Alexander, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

For University of Miami coach Butch Davis, linebacker James Burgess' run-in with the law and linebacker Ray Lewis' run-in with the law are two different incidents that deserve to be handled differently.

Burgess, who was acquitted of charges of simple battery and resisting arrest without violence, was benched for the first two games of the season after his arrest at a dance club in Kendall in June. Lewis, who is under investigation for charges of aggravated battery, has not been penalized and neither Davis nor school officials will discuss any potential or future consequences until the police conclude their investigation.

''Don't try to compare the two because they are totally separate incidents, totally separate people with completely different circumstances surrounding them,'' Davis said Tuesday of Lewis and Burgess. ''There will be other incidents. We live in a dream world if we don't think there will be more incidents next year, four years down the line, and each particular incident will be handled solely on its own merits.''

While Davis never has described explicitly why he suspended Burgess, who will start Saturday against Virginia Tech, he has said the decision had more to do with a violation of a team policy than Burgess' arrest itself. Lewis has not been arrested or charged.